Molecular interactions at the surface of extracellular vesicles

• Published in: Seminars in immunopathology Vol. 40; no. 5; pp. 453 - 464
• Main Authors: Buzás, Edit I., Tóth, Eszter Á., Sódar, Barbara W., Szabó-Taylor, Katalin É.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.09.2018; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Animals; Antibodies; Apoptosis; Biomarkers; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Cancer; Cell Communication - immunology; Cell Membrane - immunology; Cellular Microenvironment - immunology; Exosomes; Extracellular matrix; Extracellular vesicles; Extracellular Vesicles - immunology; Heat shock proteins; Humans; Immunology; Internal Medicine; Kinases; Ligands; Lipids; Localization; Microscopy; Plasma; Polysaccharides; Review; Signal transduction; Extracellular matrix; Drug delivery; Extracellular vesicle; Interactome; Surface
• ISSN: 1863-2297; 1863-2300; 1863-2300
• DOI: 10.1007/s00281-018-0682-0

Extracellular vesicles such as exosomes, microvesicles, apoptotic bodies, and large oncosomes have been shown to participate in a wide variety of biological processes and are currently under intense investigation in many different fields of biomedicine. One of the key features of extracellular vesicles is that they have relatively large surface compared to their volume. Some extracellular vesicle surface molecules are shared with those of the plasma membrane of the releasing cell, while other molecules are characteristic for extracellular vesicular surfaces. Besides proteins, lipids, glycans, and nucleic acids are also players of extracellular vesicle surface interactions. Being secreted and present in high number in biological samples, collectively extracellular vesicles represent a uniquely large interactive surface area which can establish contacts both with cells and with molecules in the extracellular microenvironment. Here, we provide a brief overview of known components of the extracellular vesicle surface interactome and highlight some already established roles of the extracellular vesicle surface interactions in different biological processes in health and disease.